Saturday, February 2, 2008

A Non-BDSM Guide to BDSM Terms

Alright, after the lengthy introductions, it is high time for a bit of fun. Needless to say, I am a fan of fun. Do you know what kind I like best? Apart from decorating a shapely female bottom with marks and welts, that is. What I really like is educational humour - you know, the kind where you acquire some interesting tidbit of knowledge in the process. After all, this blog is intended as a resource of learning and character development. Particularly for those readers with shapely female bottoms (the guys will benefit from it, too, though - I don't want to discriminate against anyone).

Speaking of bottoms, it was Pandora Blake who inspired me to do the following piece. In one of her recent blog entries, she had written about the importance of elucidating those who are not in the BDSM lifestyle on what we do and what our kink is all about:

"I do feel that because my sexual preferences are easily associated with misogynistic acts, I have a responsibility to make the distinction as clear as possible... I'd love to see more models - male and female - adding their voices and telling the world why they do what they do, and what they get out of it."

This is a noble undertaking. However, it can also be a very difficult one - not just because the fetish itself is strange and alien to outsiders, but also because of some very basic terminological barriers. Did you notice that BDSM people and vanilla people actually speak two totally seperate languages? It's true, and it happens whenever cultural groups with vastly different backgrounds and experiences try to communicate with each other.

Your background shapes the associations and expectations you have whenever you hear a specific term. For instance, when a mathematician hears the word "triangle", he will usually assume it to mean a basic shape of geometry ("polygon with three sides"), while an orchestra musician will probably think of the percussion instrument first. One word, several meanings. Ambiguities such as these could pose a severe hindrance whenever we spankos try to engage in discourse with the rest of the world.

To solve this crippling problem, I have started work on a "Non-BDSM Guide to BDSM Terms" - a sort of translation manual. It will examine a list of words and give the first association that the average vanilla person and the average kinky person is likely to have. As you can see, these associations are usually very different.

Adult Content!

This blog contains discussions and images related to adults engaged in consensual sadomasochistic acitivities, fetishes and other sexually related material. If you find such content offensive, or if you are not of legal age to view adult material in your community, please go somewhere else.